Sour Milk

Kristan, my brother's fiancee, loaned me a book called "Sour Milk". It tells the story of forty different Saskatchewan criminals. Some of the cases are high profile, like Serena Nicotine. Others are lesser known criminals, some from the 1920s. Some of the stories depict heinous murders, while others are cases of fraud and betrayal. The one common thread they share? The central characters are all messed in the head. And I say that in the kindest way possible. I recommend this book to anyone who thinks that Saskatchewan, or even Prince Albert, is a safe place to live.

Violence is growing in our neighbourhoods, our cities and our province and I don't know what the answer is. Better education? But how do you keep kids in school when their parents don't care? More money into after school programs? If the kids aren't interested in stuff like that now, newer basketballs aren't going to attact them. I guess the first step is figuring out where the problems begin, but at what point do you stop throwing money into researching what causes these people to think violence is their only resort.

There is a whole other world out there that so many citizens just don't see (or don't care to see). Given my line of work, I'm able to get a small glimpse into 'that' world when my students tell me stories. But I will never be able to truly understand what they have gone through. Watching their mothers get beat to a pulp for not having supper ready on time. Listening to their sisters and cousins get raped by their uncles. Going to school hungry every single day. Learning at a young age that drugs and alcohol are a great way to deal with emotional pain. I can't even imagine what it feels like to have your power and gas shut off because Dad gambled away the Child Tax money. Again.

When I got my job, I knew it was the job that I was meant to have. But I still feel like I am supposed to be doing more. When I started my leave from work back in January, I heard that the men's shelter was looking for volunteers and I considered the idea of going down and teaching there a couple hours a week. I don't know what happened and why I never ended up doing it, but I'm now three weeks away from going back to work full time and by then, I won't have much free time left over. Procrastination I guess.

My mom and I have talked about opening a room and board type house where northern students, or men just out from jail and wanting to give the straight life a shot, can live. It would be a communal type house where everyone pitches in to get the house work done, the garbage out, the meals made, etc., but there would also be someone who comes in and over sees these things. We would help the tenants get registered for school, find jobs, buy groceries etc. There are so many small things that most of us know how to do that we just take for granted. Even basic math and the ability to figure out what we can buy at the grocery store based on what money we have in my wallet.

When my parents came back from Thailand, I asked if it was an eye-opening experience for them. They said "Yes, but...." and went on to explain that while it was good to see what was happening on the other side of the world, it also made them realize there is a lot they can do within their own community. Now that they are done with travelling for a few months, maybe this room and board project will take off over the summer. But given that my mom takes three weeks to decide what dish cloths to buy, buying another house could take a while. :-)